Why Advanced EMDR Works
Praise for Josh and Advanced EMDR
“There are certain people that you meet in your life and they change it in the best possible way, Josh is one of them and I'll be forever grateful. If you ever have the opportunity to work with him jump at it, I can promise you it will be the best thing you have ever done. He is the real deal!”
VG
“Josh completed my introduction training for EMDR. I found his ability as a facilitator and trainer to be supportive and informative. I recall really looking forward to having him as a supervisor. I have found Josh's personalized approach to my supervision needs encouraging. Josh has been an advocate of good practice, and I have truly been a beneficiary of his knowledge and experience.”
Ian Swanston, BSc (Hons) MBACP (Accred)
I feel so lucky to have found Josh as my supervisor who has so much knowledge around EMDR and body psychotherapy. I've grown extensively as a person and a therapist since having supervision sessions over the last two years.
Sarah, EMDR therapist, Cheshire
According to research, EMDR reduces hijacks and lowers the fearful experience of trauma memories to create a healthier outlook on the future. The side-to-side eye movements and bilateral stimulation from tapping and other inputs help to reorganise the thalamocortical network so the brain can essentially be reset to what I call “factory settings”. This is what I’ve created Advanced EMDR to be able to do.
By reorganising the thalamocortical network Advanced EMDR helps a trauma sufferer get back to their old selves again. In some cases, by healing trauma the impossible can be made possible. A memory that once haunted someone can quickly become just “something that happened” in the past.
Advanced EMDR'S Big Secret
The EMDR stimulation sequences are designed to bilaterally activate the left and right hemispheres of the brain in a rhythmic way to reorganise what Bessel van der Kolk labelled for me in a conversation in 2007 the “thalamocortical network” in the brain. Bessel is a big fan of EMDR in the treatment of trauma and sings its praises in his best-selling book The Body Keeps the Score.
Since my study with him and his team in Boston, I’ve been researching the positive effects of eye movements in disrupting stress and trauma in the brain. I’ve poured into Advanced EMDR not just the traditional EMDR methods but somatic breathing and eye movements that I’ve used for nearly 20 years to heal trauma and anxiety. I’ve helped people create the impossible.
I discovered, the thalamocortical network helps us to lower our fear responses and empower a process called fear extinction. However, with trauma our memory and associated fearful reactions don’t switch off and can continue to haunt us with flashbacks and intrusive re-experiences of a traumatic event. These painful experiences are often referred to as “hijacks”.
I’ve been using EMDR for nearly a decade as a Trauma Therapist, Supervisor, and Senior Trainer.
I’ve either applied EMDR successfully with clients or taught and supervised its application in over 800 cases. After countless hours eating, breathing, and sleeping all things EMDR I can tell you this.
There's a deep neuroscience secret to why EMDR is so effective. The secret is buried in the thalamus, the brain's central communication center, which goes "offline" in an acute trauma reaction.
First, let me give you a simple explanation of EMDR.
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing that was developed by Francine Shapiro, PhD in the late 1980’s to originally help people who suffered from anxiety. EMDR has developed into one of the most successful clinical treatments for PTSD ever studied.
EMDR is unique in its approach to healing trauma as it incorporates an effective series of physical interventions to stimulate the brain whilst remembering a traumatic incident. The interventions involve eye movements, tapping, aural sounds and haptic (vibrational) stimulation of the palms.
Brace yourself, as you’re about to experience the MOST effective somatic exercise I’ve ever designed to eliminate anxiety, fear, panic and trauma.
I call it The Scissors technique, and it’s self-applied, which means you practice it on your own like an exercise at the gym or a meditation.
I want my clients to be able to occasionally work on their own, without me around. Doing my somatic interventions in their own time to develop agency and confidence is the “secret sauce” to the efficacy of my trauma treatments. That and, when it’s appropriate, we laugh a lot in my sessions. It’s nice to experience joy rather than pain, right?
“I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.” – Woody Allen
If animals are able to heal their own trauma through play, movement and connection, why can’t we?
